Random dispatches: Electric Guest, Wallpaper, the Soft Pack, 2 Hearts and Chemicals, David J

Kevin Bronson on
2

The latest scribbles in my notebook:

‣ Word on the smoking patios is that L.A. electro-soul newbies Electric Guest, the Danger Mouse-produced guys who’ve done audience-building gigs all over town this summer, are doing a deal with Downtown Records. The project, the brainchild of songwriter/composers Asa Taccone and Matthew Compton, has wrapped up an album titled “Radical Miracle.” The music [stream three tracks here and another via KCRW] is squeaky-clean funk-soul, catchy in a way that recalls Broken Bells or an R&B Foster the People.
‣ Also heard that Wallpaper is doing a surprise gig at Bardot tonight. [Earlier, I posted they were signing to Red Bull Records, which was incorrect. Apologies. They’re here.]
‣ How would you like to be on this boat? Something called the Bruise Cruise (billed as a “3-day tropical rock ’n’ roll vacation”) is a Miami-to-the-Bahamas excursion departing Feb. 10 with a musical lineup of L.A. own the Soft Pack, along with F*cked Up, King Khan & the Shrines, Thee Oh Sees, Quintron & Miss Pussycat, the Dirtbombs, Neil Hamburger and others. Interior cabin: almost $700.
‣ 2 Hearts and Chemicals, the bi-coastal collaboration of Eli Lhymn and Stephen Biebel [see July’s premiere], has signed to XD Records, the imprint co-founded by Dean Garcia of the legendary shoegaze band Curve. 2 Hearts and Chemicals have also recorded a bang-up cover of the Placebo song “Teenage Angst” – get it here.
‣ And a theatrical note: “The Chanteuse and the Devil’s Muse” – a Black Dahlia-themed play with live music by Bauhaus/Love and Rockets co-founder David J (and his collaborator Ego Plum) – makes its world premiere Sept. 8 at the Bootleg Theater.
‣ Speaking of theatrics, when the annual celebration of French music the Ooh La La Festival lands in L.A. on Sept. 29, it’ll be a bit different. In their appearance at the El Rey Theatre, SoCal faves Nouvelle Vague will perform “Dawn of Innocence,” a musical directed by Jean Charles de Castelbajac.
‣ Brothers Nic and Cisco Adler – they of the Roxy Theatre lineage – are opening the Roxy Lounge in Scotttsdale, Ariz., in mid-September. It’ll be a 250-capacity club.
‣ The Vaccines canceled their tour dates for the next two months, including a Sept. 13 date at the Music box, because frontman Justin Young is having throat surgery (his third such procedure of the year). Ouch.